Support Your Change Agents

For community institutions in a post-pandemic world, embracing change is more important than ever.

Change is the only constant. Whether it’s life, business, or banking, you’re either moving forward or you’re moving backward — as they say, there is no third direction. But that doesn’t mean change is easy, especially in the world of Community Banks where things tend to move more gradually and deliberately. The same tight-knit trust that makes community bankers so special can also lead to distrust of unfamiliar outside forces. But change comes, nonetheless, and it’s revitalizing
our industry.

That’s why now more than ever, we need to support our Change Agents. These are both the fresh faces who’ve recently come into our banks and some of the familiar ones who’ve realized that to survive and thrive, financial institutions need to embrace new ideas, technologies, and delivery models for their products and services.

The most successful banks are incorporating new ideas to meet their customers where they are while maintaining that accessibility and personal touch that makes a local bank such a valued member of their community.

Along a Change Agent’s journey, beware of these excuses from naysayers who want to push back on your business’s natural evolution:

• “We’re too busy.”
• “We just spent money on this other thing, and we need to ‘run it out.’”
• “Our vendor says that isn’t possible.”
• “But Jimmy built that, it will hurt his feelings if we change or try to improve it.”
• “It’s harder than it sounds.”
• “We’d rather choose ‘the devil we know.’”
• “Our employees can’t handle a conversion right now.”
• “We’ve got too many other things to do.”
• “We don’t have the right partners.”

Change is difficult, no question. But it’s necessary, and all over the country, community financial institutions are braving this new world and getting tremendous results. And if you’re worried about not having the right partners, then find them. For instance, BankOnIT has a long history of helping financial institutions — big and small — modernize their technology platforms through Cloud Computing. Our team includes community bankers, who have a deep understanding of the rules and regulations, compliance, and how to secure your systems while also maintaining ease of use for your customers, employees, and vendors. Once your platform is set, the sky is the limit for new products, services, technologies, and ideas!

So, as we embark on this journey into the future, make sure you find your Change Agents and show them your support in driving progress at your institution. Adoption of new technology alone does not make meaningful change; it takes a shift in the entire organization’s mindset. But tech can certainly ignite that spark — and we can help with that.